Tag: in the garden

It is never too early or too late to start planning and prepping your garden. March is always a month of transition. As the old saying goes March can come in like a lamb or with the vengeance of a lion. Of course this can vary from year to year and also depends on what part of the country your live in. One thing that remains constant is spring arrives March 20th on the calendar regardless of the weather conditions. So why not get a head start in the garden now. Here is a list of things to do in the garden now.

Edible Gardening

Late winter and early spring apply horticultural dormant oil on fruit trees before the first set of leaves pushes out.

Plant cool season vegetables in cold frames or garden if the soil is workable for lettuces, spinach, Swiss Chard, broccoli, kale and other cole crops. Continue to sow indoors in the weather is not favorable.

Mid- March begin planting peas and potatoes in the garden, provided soil is workable.

Mulch strawberries with pine straw.

Late march begin planting blueberries, grapes and raspberries in the garden.

Researchers find activities like gardening can improve mental health and contribute to a healthy weight. The increased physical activity reduces stress, and increases happiness. You also build better eating habits when grow your own vegetables. With benefits like this why are we not seeing more adults and children interested in gardening? For starters it begins with the young. Cultivating children’s interest in gardening at a very young age shows that as adults they continue to garden. Children’s gardens should be a place of fun and inhibition so they can be free to explore and learn as they grow.

Designing and Planting…Designing gardens for kids should be filled with fun plants that are easy to grow from seed. Therefore you want to get them involved in the design process, after all it is their space. Use plants like Sunflowers, Chinese lanterns, and Celosia, just to name a few. Bright colors and textures are big attractions that draw in the most curious gardeners of all ages. Be sure to include native shrubs and perennials. They attract local birds and wildlife to the garden. It is important to show children how important natives are and the role they play in our ecosystem.

Stimulate their sense of smell…Fragrance is so important to spark their interest. Plants like Heliotrope, Primrose, Lilac, Lavender and Peonies are great additions to any garden and easy to grow.

Edible Gardening…Always mix edible plants with flowering plants. Planting vegetables and flowers together teaches children the importance of attracting pollinators, like bees and beneficial insects to the garden. Flower and fruit production from pollination are keys to the success of the garden.

Garden Architecture…Add structure to the garden using an arbor or pergola. Make a garden path for little feet to walk. Have the children create their own stepping stones using found objects, like stones, marbles, seashells in concrete molds. Hand and footprints stepping stones are always popular for the kids to make.

Gone are the days of garden pots sitting idle on the front porch during the winter season. Container gardening doesn’t have to end when the weather turns cold in fact the local garden centers are filled with a wide variety of conifers and fresh cut greens, perfect for greening your containers. Using boughs of pine, fir, and cedar and a few dried and faux accents give your planters life when the short gray days of winter set in.

What I most like about this DIY project is that you don’t have spend a great deal of money. Bundles of fresh cut greens are reasonably priced and if you are fortunate to have conifers and broadleaf evergreens on your property you’ll have a nice variety to choose.

Use heavy duty ceramic, iron or fiber planters if possible, these materials are more frost tolerant than basic terra cotta, fill pot with soil. If you have plants leftover from the fall cut them down to the soil. This actually provides a sturdy base for arranging the stems. You want to begin by sticking greens in the pot starting from the middle. Greens should be cut proportioned to the size of the pot. Consider using a taller branch for the center and then cut branches at varied lengths. Ideally you want to achieve a triangular or fan shape to your arrangement. I prefer using fraser fir as my base when possible, It’s short needles provide a sturdy base and the blue green color add dimension. You can use pine and douglas fir as well. Continue building your arrangement, working from the center of the pot until the soil is covered. Begin adding accent greens like pine, and port orford cedar to soften and add drape to your arrangement. I suggest adding magnolia or holly to vary textures or head outside and forage in your own backyard for materials.

Once you have placed all the greens now the fun begins. You are ready to take your arrangement to the next level. Branches, like white birch, and sweet huck along wth red twig dogwod add height and brighten greens. For a more holiday feel add clusters of red berries and pine cones. I encourage you to experiment with your design. If you prefer a more natural arrangement use fresh materials. If you want a more festive look for the holidays add glittered branches and faux picks of silver and gold. The holiday displays at the local garden center are filled with faux and natural picks to choose.

Another option for pots is using potted evergreens. Potted Alberta and Colorado spruces as well as varieties of cypress, holly and boxwoods are just a few shrubs you can plant into pots now. You can add cut fresh boughs of cedar or pine at the base and holiday lights for a custom design look. Remember to water your arrangement and spray with an anti -transpirant like, Wilt Pruf or Wilt-Stop. This will help reduce any water loss through the leaves and needles of your potted arrangements.

Tina talks about how much taller asters grow when they are in your garden as opposed to the ones in the garden center.

Native Asters put on quite a show this time of year. Seen along roadsides across the northeastern part of the country asters provide a bold pop of color When other plants and perennials begin to fade into the landscape. They are a staple in many perennial gardens and borders, with clusters of star daisy like flowers. Colors range from white, pink to hues of lavender purple and are at the forefront of fall gardens right along side mums, cabbage and winter pansies.

Aster novae-angliae also known as New England aster and novae-belgii, New York asters are North American natives hardy to zones 4-8 and commonly found in your local garden center typically beginning in late August through the fall. They are a key food source for pollinators and wildlife alike. Late blooming flowers, like asters provide a viable food source necessary to supply much needed energy for pollinators like the monarch butterfly and hummingbirds as they migrate southward. They are also a pollen source for bees as well, especially honey bees.

In their natural habitat they look different than what you see in local garden centers. When grown commercially they are typically pruned twice during the summer months to encourage branching to maintain a certain height ranging from six to twelve inches to fourteen inches at the most. Wild asters can grow up to six feet in height without pruning. They flower effortlessly with a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight and are right at home in container gardens as they are growing in garden beds. Caring for asters are simple and similar to garden mums. The key is to plant asters in early fall to establish a healthy root system. They prefer full sun to partial shade. If grown in shady area of the garden plants tend to be leggy and will need to be staked. Asters are also drought tolerant and do best in well drained soil and can be susceptible to root rot if planted in heavy wet soil. First year plants don’t need to be fertilized heavily, once they are established begin fertilizing in early spring. Add organic compost around the base of the plants and use a balanced fertilizer monthly. Overall plants are relatively maintenance free and are seldom bothered by pests. Powdery mildew can occur but is no real threat to the plant. Spraying an organic fungicide early in the season can help prevent it.